Robb Smith (born May 10, 1975) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is currently the co-defensive coordinator for Rutgers after being an analyst for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Previously, he was the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

and

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

. He was formerly the linebackers coach for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

under coach Greg Schiano during the 2013 season.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Before going to

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

and after being a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, Smith worked at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

from 2002 building himself up as a coach. He started as a defensive backs coach, in 2005 he was promoted to become the team's special teams and linebackers coach and in 2006 he was once again moved ahead given the position as the team's assistant head coach and

until 2008. Under Smith, Maine boasted one of the top defenses in the FCS, highlighted by the 2006 team that ranked first in rush defense, second in total defense, third in sacks, and fourth in scoring defense.

First Stint at Rutgers

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Smith became the Special Teams Coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Rutgers under Greg Schiano, a position he would hold for three years. During his tenure leading the special teams units, the Scarlet Knights' Special Teams ranked first nationally in blocked kicks with 31. The 2010 team led the nation in blocked punts followed by the 2011 team finishing 2nd in blocked punts. Throughout those seasons the Scarlet Knights Special Teams ranked fifth nationally in punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns. Prior to the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

season Smith was promoted to Defensive Coordinator at Rutgers under new head coach Kyle Flood. The Rutgers defense was a historic one which helped lead the Scarlet Knights to their first conference championship in over fifty years. The Scarlet Knights defense ranked fourth in the nation in points allowed per game (14.2), sixth in rushing yards allowed per game (95.2), and tenth in total defense allowing 311 yards per game. Following the 2012 season, Smith went on to accept an opportunity to be the Linebackers Coach for the

joining coach Schiano.

Tampa Bay

During the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

season, Smith coached Lavonte David to first-team All-Pro. He started every game of the 2013 season and recorded 144 tackles. David became only the 3rd player in NFL History and the first linebacker to record 100 or more tackles, six or more sacks, and five or more interceptions in a single season.

Arkansas

Bret Bielema hired Smith prior to the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

season in Fayetteville to be the Arkansas Razorback's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. The Razorback defense found success finishing in the top ten in scoring defense (19.2) and total defense (323.4). The Razorbacks also went on to shutout back to back ranked opponents #17 LSU (17-0) and #8 Ole Miss (30-0) helping the Razorbacks reach their first bowl game since 2011. The Razorback defense continued to have success stopping the run in 2015 holding Leonard Fournette to 91 yards rushing and Derrick Henry to 95 yards rushing. His defense finished the season ranked 12th nationally and 2nd in the SEC in rushing defense (116.46).

Minnesota

Smith was hired by P.J. Fleck (whom he coached with at Rutgers and in Tampa) on his initial staff at

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in January 2017 as the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach. The

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

defense ranked 30th in total defense and 36th in scoring defense. But he was dismissed after only twenty-one games.

Return to Rutgers

On January 14, 2020, after a year working as a defensive analyst at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, it was announced that Smith would return to

as the Defensive Coordinator under Coach Schiano.

Duke

On December 20, 2021, it was reported that Robb Smith would join new Duke Head Coach Mike Elko as Defensive Coordinator. Smith served as an Analyst at Texas A&M in 2019 when Elko was the Defensive Coordinator. During his one season at Duke, Smith's defense held opponents to 22.1 points per game. Before Smith's arrival, the Duke defense gave up 39.8 points per game. The 2022 Duke defense had a turnover margin of +16 which ranked 2nd nationally. The Blue Devils finished the season with a 9-4 record and won the Military bowl vs. UCF 30-13. Following the season, Smith decided to step down to spend more time with his family who reside in Minnesota.

Penn State

Smith served as an Analyst in 2023 and helped the Nittany Lions earn a berth in the Peach Bowl. Smith helped call the defense in the Peach Bowl after Manny Diaz took the head coaching position at Duke. Smith was initially elevated on the field on the offensive side of the ball when James Franklin relieved Mike Yurcich following the loss to Michigan. Following Diaz's departure, Smith was elevated to Co-Defensive Coordinator for the Peach Bowl.

Personal life

A 1997 graduate of Allegheny (Pa.) College with a bachelor's degree in economics, Smith was a three-year letterwinner at strong safety. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with Iowa from 1999 to 2001, where he earned his master's degree in communications studies in 2002. Smith and his wife Amy have two children, Charlie and Jack.

References

External links

Duke profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robb 1975 births Living people American football safeties Allegheny Gators football players Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Duke Blue Devils football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Maine Black Bears football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pittsburgh